At sunrise, before Dubai’s megamalls open their doors to the general public, people are already bounding along marbled corridors past the luxury boutiques that forged the city’s reputation as a shoppers’ paradise. But these are not customers looking for bargains: the emirate’s cavernous shopping centres double as air-conditioned running tracks during the summer, with runners gathering at 6am to escape outside temperatures approaching 40C and compete in races of up to 10km.
Long before Europe’s recent exceptionally hot summers prompted calls for more air conditioning of public and private spaces, Gulf states were investing in homes, offices and infrastructure to help residents cope with the region’s extreme seasonal temperatures. “There are things that have been done in the Middle East and around the Mediterranean that Europe should pay attention to for its new developments,” said Oscar Brousse, a lecturer in urban climatology and health at University College London.
Read More: https://www.ft.com/content/083d21f8-ac03-4d72-b149-e8ded11c11a9?syn-25a6b1a6=1
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